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Altria (MO) closed at $46.71 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.04% move from the prior day. This move was narrower than the S&P 500’s daily loss of 0.69%.

Heading into today, shares of the owner of Philip Morris USA, the nation’s largest cigarette maker had lost 7.65% over the past month, lagging the Consumer Staples sector’s loss of 3.71% and the S&P 500’s loss of 2.58% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from MO as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be October 28, 2021. On that day, MO is projected to report earnings of $1.27 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 6.72%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $5.79 billion, up 1.92% from the prior-year quarter.

MO’s full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $4.62 per share and revenue of $21.32 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +5.96% and +2.3%, respectively.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for MO. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company’s business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. MO is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Looking at its valuation, MO is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 10.13. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 10.13, so we one might conclude that MO is trading at a no noticeable deviation comparatively.

Investors should also note that MO has a PEG ratio of 2.53 right now. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company’s expected earnings growth rate into account. The Tobacco was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.93 at yesterday’s closing price.

The Tobacco industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 117, which puts it in the top 47% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow MO in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.

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